Jeremiah 9:6

Thursday, September 25, 2008

The Bibles AccountGenesis 7: 20-22 says, “The waters rose and covered the mountains to a depth of more than twenty feet. Everything that lived on the earth perished-birds, livestock, wild animals, all the creatures that swarm over the earth, and all mankind. Everything that had the breath of life in its nostrils died.” This account makes it abundantly clear that Noah’s flood was no local cloudburst. The mountains were covered in twenty feet of water. This means that there was no dry ground across the entire face of the earth. Also, every land dwelling animal and all the birds were killed. How could a local flood kill animals 4000 miles away? Many Christians now believe that the flood was only local to Noah’s neighborhood. But, I must be harsh and say, can you be a Christian and not believe your bible? The bible is the foundation of our faith. We can’t choose to ignore parts of it because of its inconvenience. But if you don’t believe the bible is true, here are two reasons you too should believe in a worldwide flood.

Flood storiesIn his book, “Dinosaurs by Design”, Ph.D. Duane Gish states that there are “more than 270 flood stories and historic records found in many parts of the world”. Gish gives examples of flood stories from cultures as diverse as the ancient Babylonians, Toltec people, Chinese, and Hawaiians. Some of these stories are detailed enough to tell of Noah, his three sons, and the animals that were all saved from death in a boat. The since Noah and his Family were the sole survivors of the flood, every culture on earth would have inherited their own rendition of the flood story. Thousands of years of campfire stories would have distorted the exact details in most cases. In the end, these flood accounts are great proof for a worldwide flood. After all, what are the odds of 270 story tellers from all over the earth, create such similar accounts from out of nowhere.

The impactEvidence for the worldwide flood also comes from examining the geological features of the earth. A flood of the proportions described in Genesis would have impacted the earth in a very noticeable way. Here are 2 different ways geology supports the global flood.

1: Plate Tectonics.Scientists have found evidence that the continents are slowly drifting away from each other on giant sections of the earth’s crust. In fact, the continents used to form one single continent. Evolutionary scientists assume that the continents have been drifting at essentially the same speed since they began millions of years ago. But, since the earth could not possibly be that old, (See “The Young Earth” parts 1-6), another explanation is needed. A catastrophe like the flood could have easily created imbalance in the earth’s crust, breaking up the continents, pushing them around, and setting it in the motion we see today. This would have taken a very short time, as opposed to millions of years.

2: Fossil Graveyards.Scientists have found numerous piles of jumbled up fossilized bones all over the world. These “graveyards” many times contain animals that are never found together today. Graveyards contain the remains of so many, and such diverse animals, that they pose a real threat to those who do not believe in a worldwide flood. You see, if fossils were formed over millions of years, as one layer of rock slowly formed on top of another, how do you explain fossil graveyards? You must assume that thousands of diverse animals from all over the world, came together, died, and were fossilized for no apparent reason. But if you believe in a worldwide flood, everything starts to make sense. Imagine powerful, muddy currents swirling around under water, picking up thousands of creatures not lucky enough to be on the ark. Eventually the currents would set them all down in very close proximity, and soon, they would be covered with mud. Go out to any river and you will see that the currents, in many places, create formations, and even piles of dead plant matter much like we would expect, (Although in a slightly smaller scale), from a worldwide flood.

Why a Local Flood?So why do some Christians reject the idea of a worldwide flood? I think it's because we try to hard to fit in to our modern culture. Don’t get me wrong, we don’t have to dress in overalls and polka dots just to look weird so we don’t fit in. But sometimes, we need to put our foot down. Christians have slowly accepted the ideas like the local flood, the gap theory, and even macro-evolution, just so we don’t have to seem to “Judgmental” in this post-modern culture. Christians should love people, but hate lies. Why is the Issue of the flood so important? It’s a matter of biblical authority, if we Christians claim one part of the bible is wrong, how do we expect others to take the rest of it seriously?

Sunday, September 21, 2008

The Ice AgeAs I said in an earlier post, I believe dinosaurs might still be alive today. And I firmly believe that humans and dinosaurs lived at the same time. But of course, if dinosaurs lived today in the numbers they used to, there would be no doubt that they were still alive. Something must have killed off the bulk of their population. Ever popular among evolutionists, is the idea that comets struck the earth and caused an ice age that killed the dinosaurs. It makes sense because if the earth is millions of years old, chances are we would have collided with a giant chunk of rock at some point. Although I know there was an ice age, (caused by the flood, not comets), there are a few other extinction theories that I think might have all contributed.

The Water CanopyMy favorite theory up to date is that most dinosaurs couldn’t survive in their new environment after the flood destroyed what was left of the perfect earth. Genesis 1:7-8 says, “So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. He called the expanse “sky” and there was evening and there was morning the second day.” Later, in Noah’s flood this canopy of water above the sky fell, and probably caused a majority of the flooding. It’s kind of strange to think of an actual canopy of liquid water floating around around the earth. But this canopy could have been ice crystals, or water vapor like that of Saturn’s moon Titan, and Venus. Scientists have found that the canopy of water suspended in our upper atmosphere would make life on earth really interesting!

The Perfect EarthBefore the flood moss grew two or three feet high, dragonflies would have had wingspans of almost three feet, and reeds that grow six feet tall today would have grown up to fifty feet tall! Why all this growth? Well, with all that water up in the air, atmospheric pressure would greatly increase, harmful rays from outer space would be all but eliminated, and the earth would be a warm, tropical paradise. In fact, the full results could be. Longer life spans, minimal disease, rapid healing, greater stamina and endurance, and some plants and animals like fish and reptiles could keep growing as long as they live.

Lung TroubleBy examining fossils, scientists have found that dinosaurs had relatively small lungs and nostrils for their size. In fact, they might not have been able to breathe in our modern atmosphere. But before the flood, the extra atmospheric pressure would have made even the smallest lungs very efficient. Also, since dinosaurs used to grow as long as they live, maybe they weren’t able to in the new earth. Without the benefits of being huge like they used to, they might not have been able to compete with other animals fighting for survival.

HuntingSome people have suggested that dinosaurs were killed out by humans. This might explain all the stories about dragons and dragon slayers. After all, if you had a big, smelly, toothy reptilian monster in your backyard you would want it dead as quickly as possible too. So, why believe some dinosaurs are alive when most are extinct? Well, maybe some dinosaurs (especially the smaller ones), were better equipped to survive in the new world. Perhaps the dinosaurs in less populated areas thrived until humans arrived. I don’t think we will ever know for certain, but educated guesses never hurt. When combined, I think an ice age, suffocation, and hunting was probably the demise of most dinosaurs.

Friday, September 19, 2008

Strange LightsAbout a month ago I watched a TV show about two UFO sightings over a city in Arizona. Two sequences of strange lights hovered in a V formation over the city, and then vanished. A few years ago I might have been excited to hear about a UFO story like this. But I have recently found a few reasons to doubt that stories like this mean anything. For instance, if there really are aliens cruising around our planet, why haven’t they ever tried to communicate with us? And if they want their work to be a secret how could they be dumb enough to fly strait over a populated area like a city? But even more important are the spiritual implications of life on another planet.

Question#1If God created two or three planets, how exactly did it work when our planet fell into sin? Did the inhabitance of the other planets become sinful because of our sin? This doesn’t seem fair at all. Or were the other planets un-effected by our sin? But didn’t the whole universe fall into sin when the first humans sinned? Regardless, if there are aliens, we know they must have fallen into sin at some point. But now we must ask another question.

Question#2How did God plan on forgiving more than one planet? Did Jesus visit multiple planets and die for the sins of each one? Isn’t one death enough to forgive the entire universe? Or did Jesus just visit our planet and expect the others to somehow figure out that they were saved?

What do you think?To be honest, I don’t know the answers to these questions. It seems like no matter which way you look at it Christianity gets really confusing when you believe in extra-terrestrials. I don’t think it’s a big deal whether you believe there are aliens or not but I just thought these questions might be helpful in forming your opinion. By the way, it ended up those strange lights were military flares dropped during a training exercise from a air force base near the city.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Sorry, You Can’t Be Both!Did you know that only nine percent of born again Christian teens think there are moral absolutes? This view is called post modernism, and unlike it’s predecessor; Evolution, (or “modernism”) this is not a battle fought with science. The danger of post modernism is that people are allowed to determine for themselves what is right and what is wrong. That way, everybody's free to do anything they want and no-one is able to judge them for it. This idea also means that there are “many paths to heaven”. So, the Buddhists, Muslims, Christians, Hindus, and Atheists are all correct in their beliefs, and are all going to heaven. According to the Bible, that’s not the way it works.

One Way; JesusThe Bible teaches that no one comes to the father, (goes to heaven) except through Jesus Christ. But if truth is relative, (that is, no one can be wrong in their beliefs) how do you explain Christians? We believe that there is a moral absolute; god. And Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven. This totally contradicts post modernism. But, are we right? Well, according to post modernism, we can’t be wrong, so we must be right! But if you say we are wrong you must assume there is some sort of moral absolute out there.